Deku: The Unyielding Hero
by MoonlitWaves877
Summary: What if Izuku had decided to get training to become a hero, since he didn't have a quirk and all? He would need equipment, he would need support, he would need a teacher. What if he found one, and what if that teacher was a certain hero that everyone thought was dead? Deku, the student of All Might, and Nana Shimura?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: My Hero Academia is the property of Kohei Horikoshi and various production companies.

Key:

Normal Speech: "Sup my dude."

Screaming: "WHERE THE HELL DID IT GO!"

All Might: " **Midoriya my boy!** "

Thoughts: 'This was a horrible decision.'

* * *

"We aren't born equal."

That was the first lesson Izuku Midoriya had ever learned. It was one lesson he would never forget. How could he? Everyday he was surrounded by reminders.

His next door neighbor had telescopic vision. The elderly woman down the street could bench press his home. Even now as he walked to school, he saw a group of children playing tag, just thirty feet in the air.

The reminders weren't just skin deep either. Out of habit, Izuku scratched at the many dozens of small cuts and burns that spread over his arms and legs like spots on a dalmation. Everyday, Izuku went to school and sat next to the very person that taught him this all encompassing lesson, and gave him those scars.

Katsuki Bakugou, the only friend Izuku had ever had, but that felt so long ago. It was before Izuku had learned his lesson, back when they were both equal. But that was a lie.

Izuku sighed as he entered the gates to his middle school. The truth of the matter was that he had never been Bakugou's equal. He was just a lackey to the boy with every talent known to man. For as long as he could remember, Bakugou had succeeded in everything he'd ever wanted to, and even some of what he didn't.

Nothing had really changed when Bakugou got his quirk, their dynamic was the same thing it always was. A useless Deku, and the incredible Kaa-chan. It made no difference to whether him was beaten with words or weapons, he was powerless. This was just his lot in life, right?

"Oi, watch where you're walkin, Deku," the words were said from behind Izuku, and he jumped in surprise.

"M-morning Kaa-chan," Izuku shook like a leaf under his 'friends' glare.

"You're still in my way dumbass," the blonde's red eyes were set in deep apathy instead of rage, but it was far to early in the morning to get violent.

Izuku scuttered over to the side of hallway, and Katsuki rolled by. A pack of his new lackeys trailed behind him, all wearing the same smug look.

Izuku could never really hate Katsuki, because despite his… unique personality, Katsuki had always shared Izuku's dream. To become a hero. Sure, he bullied Izuku, and he intimidated the other students, but he never crossed the line.

But his cronies, Izuku hated them with a passion. They used their status as Bakugou's 'pals' to get away with a lot at school. Bakugou was the sort to do as he liked, but he never set out with the intention to hurt someone. These guys were different. Hurting people was how they got their kicks, and it burned Izuku to the core.

But it stung a lot more to know that he still couldn't do anything about it. Even against schoolyard jerks like those, he was powerless.

Keeping his head low enough to have his shaggy green hair shade his eyes, Izuku took the long way around to class. It was simpler to avoid them and let the day pass as fast as possible. So he walked to class, and sat down before the bell rang. Katsuki came in alone, having his crew go to their own classes, but it was more than likely that they just went to smoke behind the school.

* * *

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief. It was the last class of the day, and he'd been enjoying some incredible luck. For the whole day, save a brief interaction in the morning, Katsuki had left him alone. It was a welcomed respite from his usual torture sessions, and Izuku had taken the time to scribble some more notes into his prized journal.

"Kamui Wood doesn't normally go after high end targets on his own," he whispered to himself, "But that's because his quirk is better suited for capturing large groups of weaker enemies."

Tapping the pen of his temple Izuku hummed, "But that doesn't mean he's never attempted any high profile solo missions. There was that one time with-"

"Hey, Midoriya," Izuku looked up from his book to see his teacher standing with his arms crossed and his foot tapping. "Don't get so lost in your thoughts, the bell rang a while ago."

The jade junior looked around and saw that his classmates had indeed vacated the area. In fact, the entire building was eerily silent.

"Oh," Izuku scratched his neck, "My mistake."

The teacher chuckled before waving him off, "Just get home safely, Izuku."

As the teacher left the room, Izuku packed up his things and started to leave. Descending a flight of stairs, Izuku was thrown for a loop when he heard what sounded like ragged breathing.

He scratched his head, as the lower he went the worse it began to sound. He began to worry, and he picked up the pace. Then a sharp yelp cut through the rhythm of moans and Izuku started to breath faster.

By leaps and bounds he raced down the staircase. All the while he kept his footsteps light as to listen in on the sounds. Finally he reached the foot of the stairs, and heard nothing. Izuku closed his eyes and listened closely. He couldn't have imagined those sounds, someone was down here and hurt. He slowed his breathing to a halt, and heard a single gasp.

He turned on his heel. The sound had been behind him, under the staircase. Izuku approached slowly. The first thing he saw was a foot sticking out from the shadows, next were the pants of the school uniform, and that made him breath in relief.

It was just someone napping under the stairs, They had probably skipped their last class and nodded off under there. Kaa-chan's groupies did it often enough, but they normally rolled as a pack of two or three. This one seemed to be by himself.

Oh, well. Izuku would just wake him up and leave.

As he went to do so, Izuku paused again. Now that his jacket was in view, it looked ruined. Rumpled and dusty. So did his shirt. Peering into the shadow of the staircase, Izuku held back the rising need to vomit.

The student was looked awful. His face was swollen over with welts and bruises. He looked more like a rotten blueberry than one of Izuku's classmates. There was a dried trail of blood the cracked over his nose and dripped onto his shirt leaving to substantially sized stains.

Izuku searched the boy's face to no avail. It was so badly beaten that he couldn't recognize him. He had some distinguished gills on the sides of his neck, but they were covered with more dust.

Izuku dropped down next to him and lightly shook him.

"H-Hey," he spoke softly. "Are you- I mean. What happened?"

The student's chest, which hardly moved before, violently jerked forward. He would have fallen over if Izuku hadn't shot his hand forward to catch him by the chest.

Izuku cringed as he felt his classmate's ribs move in an unnatural way, possibly shattered.

"K-Kua," the child struggled to speak. He opened his eyes to the best of his ability, and Izuku could make out some vaguely brown irises under dusty black hair.

"Don't try to talk," Izuku insisted, leaning the boy back against the wall. "The nurse doesn't leave until 4 and she knows me. I can be back here with her in a few minutes."

"Kuabichi," the boy sputtered. "...and Lavi."

Izuku nodded in understanding, two of the thugs that hung off of Katsuki's shoulder's like coats. They were bad, but Izuku had never seen something like this.

"I'll make sure they don't get away with this," Izuku proclaimed before he ran towards the west facing side of the school.

'Nurse Kirigai, she's always here until she can file away all student injuries. I know she can help," Izuku thought of everything he might need to grab from the nurses office if she wasn't there. So far he hadn't seen anyone in the halls not even teachers. It was a blessing not seeing those two, but a pain not to have a teacher around.

Izuku turned the corner and nearly slammed head first into someone else. They were wearing the school uniform too, and Izuku grimaced. Expecting to see either one of the two offenders, he was, in equal parts, relieved and shocked to see Bakugou. Before he could stutter an apology, he remembered there was an heavily injured student that need immediate medical attention.

"What the fuck are you doing here, Deku?" Bakugou sneered at Izuku, but he didn't get a response.

Izuku jumped to the side and ran faster towards the nurse's office. Surprised at the lack of response, Bakugou reached towards Izuku's shoulder and yanked him backwards. Izuku was taken off his feet and roughly shoved into a locker while a glowing hand began to burn dangerously close to his face.

"Don't ignore me, ever," Bakugou let a few small blasts bubble off from his hands, singing Izuku's eyebrows in the process. "What are you doing here, Shithead?"

Seeing that he wasn't going anywhere with Bakugou gripping his shoulder so tightly, Izuku squeaked, "There's someone really hurt under the staircase. If I don't get to the nurse then I don't know what'll happen."

"Pffft," Bakugou peeled Izuku off the locker and let him stumble to the ground. "Is that all? What a fuckin' waste." The explosive blonde stuffed his hands in his pockets before pacing down the hallway. "I only come back for my phone, not some dumbass."

'But you stopped me?' Izuku didn't really care to vocalize that though however, and decided to be thankful that Katsuki just let him go. He picked up the paced towards the nurses office.

He knocked on the door frantically, listening as feet shuffled towards the door.

"I'm sorry but I'm just about to leave- Oh, Izuku. Are you hurt again?" Nurse Kirigai pulled her brown hair back into a bun as she spoke. She looked a bit more serious as she saw Izuku's body language.

"A student's dying under the staircase!"

A long paused filled the air, and Izuku slapped himself. He didn't mean to put it so… morbidly. Then again, there wasn't any time for niceties.

Kirigai stood for a moment, Izuku's words dawning on her slowly. She put her hand over her mouth before she dodged back into her room. It took just under a second for her to exit with a large kit hooked under her arm, racing down the hallway at a runner's pace.

"Which hallway?!" she screamed back, not slowing down for an instant.

"Science wing!" he yelled back. The nurse picked up the pace and turned the corner, leaving Izuku behind.

Feeling a little better about the situation, Izuku closed the door which had been left a jar by Kirigai's rush. As he pulled his hand away, he noticed that all the dust on the boy's shirt had clung to his hand.

Except it felt wrong. Rather than curl or crumble or do anything that dust did, it smeared on the door's handle. Izuku turned his palm and saw that his hand was covered in the grey mess.

Izuku lifted his hand to his face, trembling as he began to suspect what it might be. He put his palm over his nose, and took a whiff. It smelled like nothing, but Izuku could tell there was a familiarity to that. It was burnt, it was ash.

The boy's shirt was covered in ash. Bakugou hadn't left the building, yet. Izuku started to sprint towards the exit Katsuki had been walking towards.

* * *

Izuku caught up with the blonde bomber just as he was leaving the school. Katsuki nonchalantly strolled out the gates, and Izuku felt his little spike in adrenaline overcome his fear.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Izuku screamed at his childhood friend, who just looked startled at the unexpected outburst.

"Deku?" Katsuki laughed in disbelief. "Who the fuck do you think you're talking too you little shit?"

"A bastard," the answer had caught them both off surprise but Izuklu was rolling with the heat in his chest. He raised an open palm to Katsuki and glared."Why did you hurt that kid. What could he have done to deserve almost beating him to death?"

Now Katsuki was narrowing his eyes, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't play dumb you jackass," Izuku took a step forward, as did Katsuki. "This ash came off his shirt, he's dying under the staircase, and I can't even say his name because his face is swollen shut!"

Katsuki's body relaxed, and he tilted his head back as he asked, "You're talking about the one with the gills, aren't ya?"

Izuku fummmed in silence, and Katsuki scoffed.

"Tch," the blonde rolled his eyes before stepping forward to Izuku. "It was one hit, cause they kept annoying me in class."

"Bullshit you hit him once," Izuku snapped.

Suddenly he was lifted of the ground, he shirt's collar held by Katsuki. "I did, and you're gonna learn to watch who you called a liar, Deku," He glared darkly as he tossed Izuku back a few feet. "Whatever else happened was probably Lavi and what's-his-face, Kua-something."

"Did you tell them to?" Izuku sounded deathly serious, but Katsuki just looked offended.

"The fuck would I care for? I got mine, what they do is their business."

"How can you say that," Izuku could hear his heart in his ears. "How can you let them get away with all of this crap! Don't you care that they're using your name to do it? Do you care that they're hurting people."

Izuku stood under Katsuki's smoldering gaze unflinching. There was a moment when Katsuki's expression flickered, it might have been regret, but it could have been disgust too. Izuku would never know, it was too brief. He had no time to think on it either, because Katsuki broke the silence with a vicious sneered.

"I told you Deku," the blonde stuffed his pockets and rolled his neck, "I don't care."

"Why not!?" Izuku screamed it at the taller boy. "Don't you want to be a hero? Don't you want to help people?"

Katsuki snickered at the desperation in Izuku's voice, shaking his head.

"Don't be stupid. You think people look up to All Might because he saves so many people, or because of that dopey smile?" Katsuki raised his palms and let loose a flourish of fire and dust. "It's because he never lost. It's because he never fails. Someone always dies as collateral but All Might never fails."

"You're wrong," Izuku asserted.

"I'm not." Katsuki snarled at Midoriya, "A hero is someone that never loses. A hero is an unbreakable pillar that everyone wants to climb. Not some loser that jets it for the nearest papercut."

"You're wrong!" Izuku shouted. "Hero's defend people. They put their lives on the line to defend everyone else! They-"

Katsuki lifted his shoe and slammed it into Izuku's gut. Aside from knocking the wind out of Izuku, it had definitely bruised a few ribs. Before he could crumple to the ground, Izuku was caught by the hair, being yanked up to face Katsuki.

"No one would give a damn about All Might if he ever lost a fight, and neither would you!" Izuku winced at those words, "If you ever told yourself different then you aren't just useless, you're a liar."

"A-All Might...never let someone get...h-hurt if he could help it."

Katsuki scoffed before letting Izuku fall on his face. "You live in a fucking fairy tale, I'm here in reality, where power makes the difference. Now, apologize."

Izuku felt a fire light in his stomach. He ignored the hollow ache in his stomach to look at his former friend.

"Why."

"For wasting my time." Katsuki counted off a finger. "For accusing me of something stupid, for being a dumbass. Better yet, for being yourself."

Every word set Izuku to an even deeper anger. So much of hm wanted to lay into Katsuki, but even more wanted to lay into himself. Katsuki always had his problems, but Izuku couldn't remember a time when someone said victory and he didn't think of his old friend. Why hadn't he ever considered the price for that victory?

How could he have been so wrong? This guy was the opposite of All Might, he was basically a villain already. But the world wouldn't see that when he donned the mantle of hero. They wouldn't see the hateful little monster underneath, because Katsuki had been right.

All Might was the best because he never lost. Izuku idealized Katsuki because he never lost. The world would only ever know the victories, and not the real victors.

But that wasn't true. It couldn't have been. There were dozens of heroes that never lost, but there was a reason why All Might was at the top. And it wasn't the power, it was the smile. It was the desire the defend that he seemed to exude with every step.

Izuku will never have the power, but he will have the smile.

"Well?" Izuku looked up to see Katsuki looking annoyed. "Anytime you're ready to say it, Deku."

Izuku couldn't find the bubbling anger that had been beneath him before. It was replaced with something else, pity.

"Someone like you…" Izuku felt a swell of tears burn at the back of his eyes, "Can't be a hero."

A long silence filled the shrinking space between Katsuki and Izuku, as the former marched toward the latter with black smoke billowing off his hands.

"If you're feeling brave," Katsuki dropped his backpack on the ground. "Repeat that."

Izuku felt his heart race, and every muscle, every cell, wanted to run away. Midoriya didn't move. He didn't blink. He clenched his hand, feeling the smooth soot spread across his palm, and remembered the boy under the staircase, possibly dying because of the boy before him.

Bakugou wasn't the one to brutalize him, but he would have let it happen anyway. He had the choice to stop it, and he didn't even care. He had the power, but it didn't mean anything.

"You're the strongest person I know," Izuku smiled sadly, "But being a hero isn't just about strength. You can't just pluck someone out of danger, you have to defend their hearts. But that's beneath you."

In the time it took for a heart to beat, Katsuki had shot forward, catching Izuku's face in his palms. He squeezed the smaller boy's head in his hands, and set of an explosion.

The full and direct force should have rocked Izuku to the ground, but Katsuki held him up by his grip, screaming into into his still ringing ears.

"Who the fuck are you giving me advice!? As if some quirkless shit knows fuck about being a hero!" He let off another explosion, and the wheezing gasps of pain the weakly left Midoriya's mouth let him know he hadn't killed his classmate, if he even cared at this point. "I got power, I got talent, I put in the work! I deserve to be a hero, you deserve to be fish bait to some guppy!"

Katsuki loosened his grip on Izuku's face, letting him fall. But before he reached the ground, he punched Izuku across the cheek, sending him towards the Earth even faster.

"Don't ever open your mouth around me again." Katsuki yelled at the younger of the two, who could only barely open his eyes to look back. "You're wrong dammit. You're a fucking dumbass!"

Not giving him a second look, Bakugou turned around to pick up his bag, not knowing that Izuku was still watching him as his mind faded to black. Not knowing that as he leaned forward to pick up his bag, Izuku could see the small trail running from his eyes and dripping off of his nose.

Katsuki didn't think Izuku could here him sniffle, but he did. Katsuki walked away as quickly as he could, not knowing that Izuku heard ever tear drop hit the ground as he left.

'Why?' Izuku's last thoughts began to drift away from him, like smoke threw a net. 'Why are you crying, if you really think I'm wrong?'

And then he slept.

* * *

 **And that's chapter one of the rewrite. Let's see how long that took.**

" **4 weeks," author looks rightfully ashamed. *Following this realization, Moon uttered a string of profanities and vulgarities so violently unsettling that he isn't allowed to every repeat them. But the general message was, "I'm a freaking idiot." ***

 **I'm very sorry to everyone I kept waiting, but I hope you enjoy and comment. Chapter 2 is already underway.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: My Hero Academia is the property of Kohei Horikoshi and various production companies.

Key:

Normal Speech: "Sup my dude."

Screaming: "WHERE THE HELL DID IT GO!"

All Might: " **Midoriya my boy!** "

Thoughts: 'This was a horrible decision.'

 **Alright,, lately I've been feeling down but that's no reason to leave everyone hanging. Sorry for making you wait so long but here is chapter 2 of "** _ **My Slapdash Attempt At Remaking My First Story Which I Felt Unsatisfied With For Reasons Beyond My Comprehension"**_ **(Title Pending)**

* * *

Izuku's head felt light. Fuzzy. It was like his brain was floating in fog, lazily drifting through the vapor. He breathed in through his nose, and sighed. It might have been a pleasant experience if it wasn't so disorienting. Oh, and it was being constantly interrupted by an dull, yet intensely painful, throb emanating from his face.

When he had woken up, he noted a couple things to himself. If nothing else, it helped him to rationalize his current situation. Firstly, he couldn't see. It wasn't that his eyes were badly damaged or failing. He could make out faint specs of light spread through his field of non vision. It was that his eyes were simply swollen shut. He hoped that was all that was wrong with them.

Second, he wasn't at the school anymore. Nurse Kirigai was the only one in the building by the time he'd confronted Katsuki, and this didn't smell like the nurse's office she would have undoubtedly taken him too. It always had a chemically cleansed scent that burned his nose, just like a hospital room. This place, whatever it was, smelled like an acceptably clean locker room. Under him was a soft padding, and when he stretched out his arms his fingertips had brushed against a box on a counter. He shook it, and after spending so many years applying them to his various scrapes, he could tell they were bandages. Perhaps this place was a sort of emergency room?

Finally, wherever he'd been brought to was filled with some very active people. He heard clanging metal and feet tapping the ground, though for all he knew those feet were snapping into other people. There were strained coughs and Izuku could tell someone was trying to catch their breath.

"Just a few more minutes," said a voice, muffled behind the door to the room Izuku was fairly certain to be a medical closet.

Izuku had relaxed into a lying position with his hands on his stomach. On any other day, he'd be panicked to have woken up in an unfamiliar area, unable to see, and suffering from a potential concussion. Yet, that wasn't what was on his mind.

He was thinking about how badly it hurt. Izuku lifted his hand up to his eyes, and the side of his face. The were swollen too, painfully so. He clenched his fist as he remembered the tight grip Katsuki had taken on his skull before he... Izuku didn't know what to think. He was afraid that if he saw the chain of events for what they were than they could mean something awful. That Katsuki might have just tried to kill him in cold blood.

Izuku didn't feel anger. It had left him while he quietly contemplated what had happened. Instead, he felt nothing. He felt sort of disconnected from the present, making his disorientation so much worse. All he wanted to do was go to sleep and not wake up.

Yet even that was impossible now. He couldn't rest his mind now, while those red eyes watched him, filled with hate. With spite and disgust. Those red eyes burned Izuku up inside. He never wished he could hide from his own mind the way he did now.

He hated himself. He hated his weak body and his heart. He hated his stupid dreams and his lost friends. He hated it all and he just wanted to disappear.

'What was I thinking trying to stand up to Katsuki?' he criticized himself. 'I'm just useless, puny Deku, and he's basically a pro already.'

Izuku wanted to vomit. The first pseudo-fight he'd ever been in, and all he did was scream and fall. What kind of hero to be could have let that happen? What kind of quirkless loser could have dreamed of saving people when he couldn't save himself? He couldn't even save Katsuki from himself. He couldn't do anything. Nothing that might make a difference at least.

"I'm worthless," he mumbled Venomous and cold, those words seemed to cover him like a blanket. It wrapped tightly around his neck as he stewed in that feeling.

"Um," a feminine voice coughed behind him.

Surprised, Izuku yelped and flung himself away from the station he'd been sitting on. The sudden motion provided Izuku with the realization that lying still was all that had been keeping him from experiencing skull splitting headache. Fortunately, he was afford a mild distraction in the form of horrific nausea, which he quietly likened to sitting in the teacup ride while All Might spun the wheel.

Curled over himself, he fought the urge to vomit. It was a failing battle by the sound of his churning stomach.

"I take it you're awake," the woman sounded very annoyed with him, "If you plan to throw up, the trash can is to your left. Oh, and if one drop touches this floor, you'll clean it up with your jacket."

Izuku nodded, but even that minor shaking managed to agitate his headache.. He slowly crawled to his left, feeling around for that trash can she had spoken of. Once his fingers touched upon it, he pulled it towards him and emptied his stomach.

"Great, that smell is going to be here even after I take out the garbage." Izuku could hear the frustrated sigh over the tapping of her foot.

"I'm so," he paused as another wave of sickness rolled over him, "Sorry."

"Uh huh," Izuku could practically feel her eyes roll. "If you're done, could you politely hobble your scrawny ass back to the table?"

Izuku complied with the her orders, though at a pace slower than she would have liked. He leaned against the counter, taking slow and measured steps toward where the voice had been.

"Come on, other people are hurt too," she insisted. "Up on the table, cabbage top."

Izuku frowned at the name, but pulled himself onto the table where the unnamed woman began to probe at his face. She ran her fingers over his cheeks and nose. She flicked at his chin, and noted the areas at which he flinched. Finally, with a firm grip on his head she pried open his left eye.

Izuku's vision was cloudy at best, but he could make out some of the larger details. Light auburn hair that went into a ponytail resting on her shoulders. A sort of teardrop shaped face held her features, like her small nose and black eyes. She was glaring at him, not that Izuku could blame her. The room must have been small because the rancid odor of what he'd left in the trash can was already drifting over. He flushed with embarrassment, made worse by the fact that he couldn't look away or apologize while she dug around his features.

"Don't breathe through your mouth unless you have a mint," she complained, not ceasing to experiment on his face.

"Why are you- ow!" he pulled away from jabbing poke under his eye.

"I'm assessing how bad this is before I start fixing you." She raised a single finger and began to trace around Izuku's injuries. "Wherever it hurts, speak up. You're covered in bruises, but I'm sure you've got some sore spots I can't see."

Izuku nodded and sat patiently while she went over everything. When it seemed she was done, she closed Izuku's eye and began to breathe slower. Izuku didn't know what to think about the stark silence that filled the room, but she had stopped whatever she was doing and now they were just sitting doing nothing. But then he felt better. It was slow, almost unnoticeable, but it happened. First was the bruises. Izuku wished he had a mirror, because he could feel them recede and shrink, almost like magic had rewound his injury. Izuku felt a small bit of warmth small moving over his face, and realize that it was the heat coming off of her finger. She was tracing over him again, but this time she wasn't touching him.

It seemed that wherever her hand hover over, he would start to heal.

Next she worked on his eyes. In no time at all, the pressure from the swelling that had been pressing on his eye sockets began to lighten, more and more until it was totally gone. He started to peel his eyelids open, and once again he could see. It was misty at first, but the obstruction began to clear away, and everything looked normal again.

Izuku looked around the room, and like he thought it was small. A little bit smaller than his own bedroom, but the walls were lined with cubbies and cabinets. He supposed they could be filled with medical supplies, but if she had some sort of healing quirk, why would sh ever need any. Izuku didn't feel the need to voice that however, lest he cause her to stop her treatment.

It took 5 minutes for the woman to finish her work, and Izuku spent them in awe. His headache, he face, his aching jaw, the were all better. She pulled away her hand and looked him over with a satisfied hum.

"Thank y-" Izuku's gratitude was sharply interrupted by a loud smack. It originated from her palm on his face.

While Izuku sat it shock of being slapped by his healer, she checked her wrist and his reaction.

"DId that hurt anymore than normal?" she asked with a distatsted glance.

Izuku just stared at her, gobsmacked. Why was she so casual about hitting him just now? Had he offended her somehow? Why did she slap him so damn hard?

"No," he finally answered, "No it didn't."

"Perfect," she clapped.

With no warning, she violently yanked the boy off of the table top and pulled him towards the door. Izuku hopped to keep up with the woman while she spoke.

"My friend and coworker, Yujiro, was running when he saw your dumbass laid out at a closed school. He brought you here so I could fix you up because apparently I have nothing else to do but wait on you hand and foot." She paused long enough for Izuku to appreciate the sarcasm and to open the door and shove him into the larger room beyond. "He's probably outside, and you're backpack is by the door. Say thank you before you go, and please, never come back. Next!"

Before Izuku could blink, someone rushed past him holding their wrist to their chest. The door closed with a final, annoyed glance from the woman who had healed him.

"I never got her name," he realized.

It was too late for that anyway. She didn't seem like the kind and friendly type, according to the fact that she all but threw him out. Though she had made a good point. Izuku should thank the person who found him, and hopefully he wouldn't slap him in the middle of his thank you.

Izuku turned around to get a good look at where exactly he was, and promptly had a minor stroke. Directly behind him, he'd been hearing a sort of smacking. It wasn't very loud, but the source of the sound was constantly moving. It seemed to wax and wayne in intensity, and now Izuku could see why.

He would call it a fight, but that was far too tame of a word to describe it. Before him, in an eight by eight boxing style ring, stood not two fighters, but two warriors. Izuku could hardly keep up, the two women in the ring were moving faster than some of the proheroes he'd seen in action. And they surely battled with more ferocity. One was in a lowered stance, her legs bent below her as she defend punch after punch from the woman her opposite. Without warning she sprung up, digging the heel of her foot into the gut of the other.

She clinched her arms around the other's, and then began to slam against the woman's ribs with her knees. It was an unrelenting barrage that would have broken a lesser woman's bones, but the one on the receiving end was just gritting her teeth. She must have been gathering her breath, because she broke her opponents hold and reversed it. She bent her self backwards while keeping her firm grip on her opponent's arms, sending her back first into the floor of the mat. Without a second breath, she kicked up and started at it again. The exchange continued, neither one losing speed or strength from the look of it.

The sound of knuckle against skin and muscle made Izuku shake, but the fierce look in their eyes stopped him from leaving. It was like looking and a lion or watching an owl hunt. Violent beauty, unspeakable power. But it wasn't limited to these two, for battles just like it now surrounded him.

There was another fight behind them, nearly as intense. And another to his left between two men that hardly seemed to touch the ground as they twisted and struck at each other. The room was filled to the brim with spartans, all either fighting or conditioning themselves.

Weights and equipment lined the walls, and the center of the room held five rings, all in use. Izuku was suddenly painfully aware of how small, and fragile, he was. He jumped as a man and woman strolled past him in spirited conversation.

"Your pretty fast for a girl with your build," a average sized man admitted as he held an ice pack on his neck. His skin was pale, revealing the man bruises and scrapes that littered his body. Izuku imagined his black hair might have been spiky if it weren't stuck to his sweaty forehead. "I think you bruised my ribs, too."

"You didn't give me much of a choice the way you were bouncing around like that," the lady replied. She was taller than the man by no less than a foot, and had the sort of toner muscular body that preached to years of training. Her skin was dark, or maybe she was just tanned, but it concentrated the blonde streaks in her otherwise black hair. "Maybe next time you'll keep your feet on the ground?"

Izuku looked at the rwo, covered in sweat and bruises. They seemed so laid back and friendly. To think that just moments ago, they were just like the people in the ring before him. What was this place?

"E-excuse me, ma'am, sir?" Izuku called out to them both before the were too far away.

The turned their heads toward him, looking him over in questioning way. Izuku felt his heart rise in his chest, as if all eyes in the room were on him, and not just these two.

"Does he look familiar?" the man asked his companion.

"Sorta," the woman replied. She scratched her chin and squinted her eyes, "Maybe he's someone's kid. Hey, you lookin' for your pa or something?"

Izuku shook his head, rubbing his sweaty palms on his pants legs, "I just wanted to know where I was. What is this place?"

At once, the two adults shared a look.

"You don't know?" the man asked. "What did you just wander in?"

"Hey, didn't Yujiro carry a kid in a while ago? I was in the ring when he rushed in, but I think he took him to the back," the taller of the two rubbed her neck while she spoke.

"That's where I came from," Izuku blurted out. "I don't know where this is, and I was wondering, you know if I wasn't taking up your time, if you could tell what this place is?"

"Oh, well we're in the midtown garden district," the man gestured to the windows, and Izuku could clearly see several small businesses lined the street. It was bright enough that the street lamps weren't on yet, but the sun was casting long shadows in the street. "And what this place happens to be is a dojo."

"It's more like a gym, Kaito," the woman clarified.

"I'm sorry Niko, do you see any lug heads slamming weights down on the racks?"

The now named, Niko, leaned over Kaito, smiling far too benevolently, "I'm sorry, do you see anyone in uniform practicing katas?"

"I don't know," Kaito said sarcastically, "I guess all these sparring sessions are normal for gyms too, oh wait, Tipness Fitness Club doesn't offer MMA!"

Izuku began to feel nervous standing so close to the two of them. He felt an ominously volatile clash start to form between them.

"I think I'll find Yujiro and thank him before I go, thanks for the help." Before Midoriya could flee the area, Niko grabbed his shoulder and with a single arm, quickly lifted Izuku and placed him before her.

"You just saw this place for the first time, what do you think? Gym or dojo?" She held firm on Izuku's shoulder, not that he could have moved under her piercing gaze to begin with.

Shaking, he played with his fingers and said, "I wouldn't know either way, really, so maybe I should just-"

"Give it your best guess," she insisted.

"Yeah," Kaito appeared behind Izuku. "We've been having this argument for way too long. An outside opinion to prove Niko wrong would be nice."

Now Izuku felt threatened, and like all other times he felt endangered, he knew what to do. Look for an exit strategy.

"I think we should ask whoever runs this place," Izuku concluded.

At once, he felt the grip on his shoulder release, and both of the two people in disagreement distance themselves from him.

"On second thought, it's not that important," Niko reconsidered, seemingly starting to sweat.

"Yeah, Kylie's probably really busy right now," Kaito laughed nervously. "Let's just figure it out some other time, how about a quick rematch."

"Sounds fun."

Quickly they took their leave, and Izuku breathed a sigh of relief. They were scary just by the sheer fact that they fought on the same level as the people around him, who all seemed to have to have only now started sweating. Who ever this Kylie was, Izuku didn't think he wanted to meet her. He was having second thoughts about finding Yujiro too.

"Oh," Izuku said to himself, "Hey, do either of you know where Yujiro is?"

Kaito called back, "Outside running laps."

"Do yourself a favor and say what you want to say fast," Niko added. "The owner's in today and she has a thing about people with weird hair. Seriously, you don't want her to see you."

"Um, thanks," Izuku said before turning around. He started towards the door before rewinding what he'd just heard. "Wait, my hairs not weird!" he asserted.

"She'll feel differently about that," she tauntingly sung.

Izuku humphed and marched to the door. Closing it behind him, he looked out and saw a wide open field. It was roughly a mile and some length around, the barrier being a beaten gravel path. Inside was just plain grass, but it was filled with people doing various exercises and even more sparring matches.

As Izuku watched the many dozen people moving about on the grassy knoll, he sighed to himself.

"Is everyone here a monster?" he wheezed, defeated."And how do I find Yujiro in all of this!?"

As if to answer his rhetorical question, a figure running on the gravel caught his eye. The person was male, a bit above average height from what Izuku saw, and had close cropped, auburn brown hair. Their legs were a blur on the track as they speed across the field at record breaking speeds. It took maybe sixty seconds for him to dash the half mile, closing the distance between him and Izuku.

The man slowed down as he rounded the corner, coming to a stop just in front of Izuku. With out stopping to catch his breathe, he flicked the sweat off his forhead, and made his way to the door. Now that he was close, Izuku could make out some of his finer details like the spray of freckles across his shoulders, or the fact that his relatively small frame was almost certainly one hundred percent muscle. Izuku wouldn't call him impressively large like All Might, but his muscle definition spoke to years of physical training and discipline.

As if just noticing Izuku was there, he looked down at the boy. Sharp, cold, unblinking green eyes seemed to deconstruct Izuku where he stood. There was a branching scar covering the man's neck, like it had been struck by lightning. When he finally made eye contact, Izuku broke a sweat. Was he some sort of instructor here? He certainly carried the intensity of the gym's other occupants, but he couldn't have been a bad person. After all, he was the one that found Izuku's near lifeless body.

Izuku gulped, preparing himself for another intense character. "Are you Yujiro?"

The man's eye twitched, seeming to recognize the boy. At the drop of a hat, his whole demeanor changed. He dropped to his knees and shook Izuku by his shoulders.

"You're alive!" he smiled, tears at the corner of his eyes. Izuku was taken aback by the youthful voice he possessed, and the older brother like concern he showed.

"Y-yeah," Izuku managed to spout while he was shaken like a doll.

'This guy's body doesn't match his personality at all," Izuku thought.

"Are you okay?" he asked, sounding very concerned. "Did Zencho heal you alright, do you need me to call someone?"

Izuku was thrown at this strange departure from the other personalities he'd just met. This man's unsolicited concern was a far cry from the rude healer and the threatening pair of fighters he'd just left.

"I'm fine, I just wanted to say thanks for bringing me here." The young boy sweatdropped at the older man's relief. Being so close up, Izuku say that he didn't really look that old. He seemed to be in his early twenties, same as the healer, Zencho, and Kaito and Niko.

"I'm glad to hear that." Yujiro nervously laughed, "I won't lie to you, when I saw you, I thought I found a dead body."

Izuku gulped, thinking of his body gathering flies in some alternate reality.

Yeah," he responded sounding brittle, "Me too."

"What happened to you?" Yujiro anxiously voiced, "Why was you face covered in ash when I found you, why did you smell like smoke, what were you-"

Yujiro paused when he felt the boys arms go limp. Izuku didn't make eye contact, seeming more comfortable with keeping her head down. Yujiro's heart sunk, and he released his grip on Midoriya. Rather the stay in the boy's face, Izuku sat down in the grass next to the entrance and motioned for Izuku to do the same.

"I'm Yujiro Haruno," he offered while Izuku sat down next to him. "Do you mind if I ask yours?"

"It's Izuku," he said flatly, "Midoriya."

"Sorry about badgering you just now," Yujiro scratched at his scalp. "You were just… I found you in a bad shape is all."

"Yeah," Izuku said discerningly. "I'm okay."

"Yeah, now." Yujiro shook his head, "You're okay now, but I could have chosen a different street to run, and you could have been there till morning. How often does that happen?"

"What?" Izuku looked at him questionably.

"How often do you have to defend yourself," Yujiro asked seriously.

"Not often," Izuku lied.

Yujiro scoffed, "You are the worst liar, but just so you know, don't try that to often around here."

Izuku nodded, "I'll try not to lie for the next 3 minutes I spend here,," he said before standing up. "Thanks for saving me, but I need to get home. I can give you my number, and you can tell me how to pay you back."

Popping to his feet, Yujiro followed Izuku inside and continued to speak.

"Pay me back by becoming a member here," Yujiro quick stepped to in front of Izuku with a smile. "I'll consider us even if you learn how to defend yourself, and then I won't have to worry anymore."

Izuku blinked. Yujiro smiled brightly as he continued.

"Have you thought about learning to fight?" Izuku sped up, though he couldn't walk fast enough to overcome Yujiro's long stride.

"Yes, but I don't really have the time," Izuku squeezed past the many occupants of the gym, now avoiding looking at any of the ongoing matches.

"Well I don't want to toot our own horn, but lessons here are pretty fast, it's just the practice that takes a while," he weaved through a swarm of observers entrapped by a match, "You could do those at home."

"I'm short for cash right now," Izuku lied. His mother gave him a generous 200 dollars every month, and nearly all of it he saved.

"We don't charge for lessons," Yujiro defended, "We just ask that if you come here, you work together to improve each other's skills."

Izuku picked up his pace upon seeing his bag near the door, "Really, I'm fine. I don't plan on hurting anyone."

"I wouldn't offer lessons if you were," Yujiro said from just behind him. "Besides, you don't look like the type to attack someone. I'm just asking if you want to know how to defend yourself."

Izuku slipped his backpack on and made towards the door, but Yujiro moved in front of him. Izuku felt a pit grow in his stomach, but he breathed deep and looked down.

"Why do you care so much?" Izuku demanded, Izuku could buy him being concerned for the boy he'd found in critical condition, but why be so persistent in getting him to join this strange gym, dojo, place? "Why do you care at all?"

"Because I get what's happening to you," Yujiro shook his hands slightly, "Kinda."

Izuku rolled his at the young adult with clear disbelief. Yujiro scrunched his face slightly.

"What, you're the only person in the world to ever suffer?" Yujiro admonished the boy with a shake of his head, "Don't this those injuries make you special, cause everyone's got scars."

Yujiro tilted his head up and swept over the branching scar on his neck. Izuku felt a lump in his throat as Yujiro lingered on the raised, pinkish wound.

"My quirk is useless when it comes to combat, and I've got all the marks and broken bones to prove it," Yujiro then leaned down to look Izuku in the eye, "But I didn't let that be the end of me, Izuku. This place, the people here, the owner, they all made me strong. It was all so that I could live, and not crawl."

"I'm not crawling," Izuku bit back, though he lacked any real sense of passion of defiance.

"You're right," Yujiro glared with the intensity that Izuku had first seen him with, "If you crawl you're at least putting the effort in. You're just gonna roll over until someone digs your grave for you."

Yujiro didn't see so much as a twitch from the boy. Izuku stillness didn't belay the cold shame that had wormed its way around his spine, nor his want to just disappear. Who was this guy to tell him how to live? Why should he care what Izuku does, and why should Izuku care what he thinks?

Was it because his words resonated with him? Did Izuku see this for what it was?

A last ditch effort. Hope.

His first step of many, if he really meant to follow wherever his dream led him.

Just as Yujiro wondered if his words had done more harm than good, Izuku spoke up.

"I think…" he raised his head, allowing his wetting green eyes to look at Yujiro's own hazel gems, "I think I want to try."

Izuku offered his right hand, letting it rest between them as he waited for Yujiro to reciprocate. Yujiro slapped it away, and wrapped Izuku into a comically tight bearhug.

"I knew you'd come around, little man," Yujiro swung Izuku around without releasing his hug/choke-hold. "You'll do just fine, here!"

Izuku croaked under the strenuous pressure, "Thanks for having me."

At once, Yujiro froze. Izuku felt a new, and thankfully less intense headache, begin to onset from the sudden whiplash. Yujiro dropped IZuku on his feet before nervously humming to himself.

"Having you, right." The young man sighed before taking a seat, "We're gonna have to tell Kylie that we have a new member."

"Is she against that sort of thing?" The green haired boy was less than comfortable with Yujiro's unsure appearance.

"She's not against new members, but…" Yujiro's eyes grazed the top of Izuku's head. "She's got a thing about hair, and she's an sorta of acquired taste anyway."

"Acquired how?"

"Like you start to get used to her after your third senseless beating," Yujiro started to count off his fingers while he rolled his eyes around. "Or maybe the fourth."

"What about none?" Izuku laughed, not in the least bit convincing.

"I'll find her, you should try to do something about your hair while you're hair." Yujiro began to walk away, and Izuku just stood there dumbfounded.

"Like what?" Izuku gestured to his nappy green mess of curls and waves.

"Niko!" Yujiro called out, scanning the crowds, "Niko, you here today?"

Izuku watched as a match on the other side of the room abruptly ended. Now that he was paying attention, Izuku say that it was the two people he'd met prior to finding Yujiro. Niko stepped out of the ring while Kaito stayed behind to wipe up.

"What's up man?" she stopped before Yujiro, towering above him in height as well.

"Do you have any hair bands or anything?" He ran back to waved his hands all over Izuku. "This is why."

"Oh hey, it's that kid from before," she smiled at Izuku.

"Hi, M-ms. Niko." Izuku nervously waved.

"Niko is fine, no one goes by titles here," she looked back to Yujiro. "Why does this kid need grooming?"

"Because I need to fix him before Kylie sees," Yujiro hands made a chopping motion at Izuku's neck, too which Izuku raised his brow.

'No one could be as intense as they're making this Kylie out to be,' Izuku argued, though he didn't dare say such a thing out loud.

It was at that very moment in time, that the entire room which had previously been rather hot, no doubt do to the body heat of its many occupants in their constant motion, dropped several degrees in temperature. A freezing cold seemed to curl around Yujiro's body in an attempt to reach Izuku. Both Yujiro and Niko were shaking as if they were cold.

"Before I see what?" Izuku's heart skipped a beat.

He couldn't even see the owner of the voice, but he felt like he was on the verge of a heart attack. It was suddenly very heavy as well.

"Heeeeeeey," Yujiro feigned confidence and casualness, in her presence, "I just wanted to get our new member all ready to meet you."

"That's funny," the voice said, as light footsteps stalked towards Yujiro, "Because until I meet them, and until I approve, we don't have a new member."

"I know that," Yujiro took a step backward, while Izuku scuttled to the wall. "But I just got the feeling you'll like him."

"Hmm," Izuku watched as Niko unsuccessfully tried to escape the conversation, "Oi, did you meet him, Niko?"

She winced at being named, "Yup," she prayed Kylie would leave it at that.

"Well what did you think?" Kylie asked sternly. Zuku looked at the angle Niko was looking at Kylie by, and deduced that she must have been just a few inches shorter than herself, which was still second place for the tallest person in the room.

"He seems good," Niko sweat bullets under what must have been an intense glare. "Lots of room for growth. And it looks like he really needs this place."

"Where is he, I've got things to do, so let's hurry it up."

'Wow,' Izuku quietly thought, 'She's tied with that Zencho girl for the meanest one here too.'

"He's around," Yujiro played off. "You just do what you gotta do while I find him."

A long silence filled the immediate area, one that Izuku was very uncomfortable with. Yujiro was starting to fold under the pressure of this woman that Izuku couldn't see, and Izuku didn't like the idea of anyone that could scare a guy like Yujiro.

"Is he behind you?" she asserted more than asked.

"Yes," Niko blurted out.

"Dude," Yujiro looked at her accusingly, throwing his arms out the the universal symbol of 'Really?'

"Move over Yujiro," Kylie commanded. Yujiro swallowed deeply, turning around to look Izuku in the eye apologetically.

Taking to quick steps to the left, Yujiro revealed the shaking form of Izuku, who held his backpack in front of himself defensively.

Now without a body to obstruct her appearance, IZuku was surprised to see that the source of the forceful and intimidating force was a gray haired old woman, someone that could have been his grandmother. If Izuku's grandmother had prominently defined arms and legs, shockingly lacking in wrinkles. She had lustrous grey eyes, like steel or iron, and her hair was the same shade. She stood with her arms crossed as her line of sight took in Izuku's form.

"What the is my first rule?" she asked. Izuku struggled for a moment, wondering if she was asking him.

"When I found him he was-" Yujiro tried to spit out.

Kylie raised a single finger to silence him. As she did so, she breathed in deeply and rolled her neck, releasing several clicks before turning to look him in the eye.

"First rule, Yujiro. Repeat it." Izuku couldn't help but be amused as Yujiro was scolded like a boy who'd brought in a stray dog.

"People with stupid hair bring stupid problems," Yujiro recited.

"My hair's normal," Izuku whispered under his breath.

"Don't speak," Kylie snapped at the younger boy. The way she popped her lips made an audible clap, and it brought Izuku to notice that the whole room was silent. He could see Kaito and Niko watching from a corner When had she left?), huddled with many of the other occupants of the gym. "Back to you, why did you think it was a good idea to break that rule?"

"Because he was dying?" Yujiro's uncertainty made Izuku cringe.

"Hmm," she seemed to linger on that thought, and the entirety of the gym relaxed their collectively, tight enough to crush diamonds, sphincters. "No."

There was an audible retightning of buts and there assoicated holes.

"No?" Izuku dared to ask, missing the dismay of Yujiro next to him.

"No," she asserted, scrunching her brow at the two of them.

Now, Izuku doesn't know how it happened, and in the many years he had to question it afterwards, he would never find any explanation for it. In what could colorfully be described as the time it takes Izuku's tears to fill a large bucket, Kylie had not only flipped Yujiro over her shoulder, and preceded to kick him across the room. She had also managed to appear behind Izuku, hoist him up by the back his neck with a single hand, and tossed him at the exit.

"No," she repeated, "That is not a good enough reason to break my rule."

"My bad," Yujiro wheezed. He landed on the door to the medical station ironically enough, and before he could begin to peel himself off, he was slammed into the adjacent wall when the door was violently flung open by none other than Zencho.

"Alright, who's dying," she groaned as she stepped out of her station. Her flickered to the many frightened occupants shying away from her door, and noticed that they were shying away from the front of the room.

She looked over and saw Izuku standing up, weak in the knees and frozen on the spot he'd landed in.

"Oh, you're still here? Go home, I'm not fixing anything else you break today."

"You knew about this," Kylie directed the accusation at the ill-tempered nurse.

"Yujiro didn't tell me anything, he just showed up with that guy," she poked her finger at the aforementioned jade haired junior, "Plopped him on my table, and peaced out."

"Yujiro!" Kylie snapped.

"Yes," he sighed from behind the door.

"What are you doing in the wall?" Zencho snorted.

"Go outside and run laps until I say you're done."

Like a soldier, Yujiro trudged from behind the door, and exited the building. Izuku mourned the loss of his only ally in this crazy situation.

"The rest of you, get back to your practice. No one slacks off in this building," Kylie ordered. It was all the instruction anyone else needed, and so they resumed their matches and exercises, doing their best not to stare at Izuku or Kylie in the front. Zencho rolled her eyes and retreated to her station, uncaring to any of the going ons of everyone there.

Izuku had yet to move from the spot he was thrown to. His mind was still frozen trying to make sense of the impossibly fast and strong 60 year old woman that just ragdolled a healthy young man and himself. Kylie it seemed, had no patience for his shocked stuper.

"Hey, are you stupid or something?" Izuku looked up to the woman as she impatiently tapped her foot. "Get lost. Split the scene. Go home."

Izuku looked at the door. Through the window, he could see the setting sun. If he wasn't home soon, his mother would be worried, and that would be an ordeal unto itself. Not to mention that fact that walking alone at night was practically asking for trouble with villains. He wasn't sure if he was far enough from home to need a bus and those only ran so late, and there were just so many reason he had to go home as soon as possible and forget this place, but he couldn't.

He couldn't because those hateful red eyes were still burning him even now that he could see. He couldn't because he still felt the ghost of Katsuki's palm wrapped around his face lighting to ignition. He couldn't because he was transfixed on the unreasonable strength of nearly everyone in the room, except for him.

It didn't have to be that way. Izuku could become strong the same way these people had. He could train and fight and learn until he was never the way he was today. Useless.

IT might have still been a pipe dream, but he could still hope couldn't he. This place could be his origin. Where he took his first steps towards his dream. He could be a hero.

"I want to try," he muttered to himself.

"Oi, what's with the mumbling," Kylie questioned. "And why the hell were you staring for so long?"

Izuku stood up, dusting in himself off as he took a deep breath. He made eye contact with Kylie, but flinched away. Nevertheless, he cleared his throat, and faced her.

"Please let me come here," he stuttered over his words as he bowed.

"Hmm," Kylie raised her brow, "Why?"

"W-What?" Izuku gulped. His stomach dropped as she glared at him, and she seemed to wordlessly command he look her in the eye.

"You heard me," she corrected. "Why?"

"Because I ummm," Izuku struggled with his words, and he felt his stomach drop to his feet the longer he waited. "I want to learn how to fight."

Kylie considered his words, but she did so quietly. She closed her eyes and seemed to bat his request around to herself. Izuku felt more and more like he was being stared at, but he didn't move. He wasn't sure why, but this felt right. There was no denying that this was a nerve wracking experience, but it was right. He wanted this.

Kylie blew air out her nose, and came to a conclusion. She leaned to her side and picked up Izuku's backpack. Coldly, she tossed it to him, and kicked open the door, letting a cold breeze in that sent shivers down Izuku's spine.

"No," she shoved the boy into the fleeting light of the sun and continued. "I'm not in the habit of taking in liars."

Izuku's budding hopes were nipped as the door closed in front of him.

* * *

 **Happy holidays. This week gave me a chance to reorder myself, and I'm ready to put myself back into my writing. Sorry for being a jerk about updates, but I'm letting you know this story ain't dead, like Izuku's dreams amiright. Too soon? Probably. See y'all in a bit.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: My Hero Academia is the property of Kohei Horikoshi and various production companies.

Key:

Normal Speech: "Sup my dude."

Screaming: "WHERE THE HELL DID IT GO!"

All Might: " **Midoriya my boy!** "

Thoughts: 'This was a horrible decision.'

* * *

The average school day was nothing special, and when the world became a place of incredible new abilities and powers with the emergence of quirks, students around the world were remiss to say that school was as bland and uneventful as ever.

Despite the fact that school fights had become marginally more interesting, students today passed time the same way they had, and would continue to do, for generations to come: gossiping. Today's juicy news was the cause of much confusion, as well as relief, for many young adults. Apparently, Bakugou had blown up (not literally) at one of his many cronies, and not long after that the same student was arrested for a nearly lethal assault on a second year student..

Speculation on the connection between those two events had followed Katsuki down the halls in the form of hushed whispers. Of course he already knew what everyone was saying. He just couldn't care less. God forbid the day any one of their opinions mattered, and to him of all people? No, he hadn't stopped to correct or threaten a single person this morning. He was looking for someone.

He was on the lookout for Deku. You see, there was more than one rumor making the rounds today. Apparently, the infamously die-hard hero otaku was seen going into the counselor's office and hadn't come out. Katsuki himself didn't see him at any of their shared classes, and that worried him. No matter what Deku had said to him the night before, he was still a coward through and through. He would never had the stomach to rat on his oldest friend, but then again he might not have to.

He walked with a longer stride than normal through the sea of students trying to make it to the next period ut when he remembered the heat of the moment. It was unbearable, like heart was burning, like his arms would have ripped themselves apart if he didn't act, and it exploded out of him. When he lunged for Izuku's face he hadn't been thinking, and when he left the boy on the ground he hadn't stopped to examine his handiwork.

Bakugou licked his dry lips as he neared a solid brown corridor in the middle of a quickly emptying hallway. He'd never been in the councilor's office, he never needed to be, and this wasn't how he pictured his first visit. He was sure Izuku was on the other side of this door, his face a broken mess, and the councilor grilling him as to what happened.

'He'll spill on the night before,' Katsuki lamented, 'It'll be my ass in jail because that shitty Deku had to run his goddamn mouth! No hero career, no chance to prove myself, just a six-by-eight and that fucker on the other side laughing at me!'

His boiling anger didn't take away from the cold pit forming in his stomach. He stood staring at the doorknob in front of him, unable to open the door. His arm refused his commands to move, his legs growing weaker by the second. His heart trembled at the thought that the other side of this door could be the end of his future. He'd thrown it any, and for what? To rise to the taunts of his obviously jealous inferior.

Yes, that was the only reason that starry eye quirk otaku would ever say something like that to him of all people. Izuku

Bakugou shook himself out of that line of thought. His hand was still shaking as he grabbed the doorknob, He ignored the feeling of his stomach hitting the ground as he opened the door. To his relief, he saw no guards waiting with handcuffs. The office only held two people; Izuku and their guidance counselor. To Bakugou's surprise, Izuku looked totally normal. He blinked to correct his vision, because as sure as the ground lay beneath his feet he had not held back on the boy, but nothing changed. Izuku was without so much as a blemish, though it looked like he was in pain. Izuku's brow was twitching ever so often, something the counselor was apparently unaware off.

It seemed neither of them had heard Katsuki enter as the conversation, one sided as it was, continued as normal. Izuku sat quietly as the balding man excitedly patted him on the shoulder.

"I so glad for you Izuku. I know I've already said it," the man face was akin to a vet giving a dog a shot, "But I'm sure you know now how unrealistic it was for you to want to be a hero. I was so worried that you'd one day come to school in a cast from trying to play vigilante, you know?"

Izuku quietly nodded, stoically staring at his counselor. His sharp breathing and tense shoulders spoke more to his quiet anger than he would allow on his face.

"Well, why don't we talk about some career choices. Your grades have always been stellar, so there's no limit to what you could do. Have you given it any thought?"

Izuku's impassive silence offered no obvious answer, but the man didn't seem concerned.

"There are some very top notch Universities in Tokyo, and their majors and course work range from medicine to law, and even bio-engineering. Why don't you take a look at-"

"I want to study criminal justice," Izuku broke his silence to interrupt the man. "I'm not changing my mind."

Slightly surprised that the always timid boy would interrupt him, the counselor rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"I know you, you um… You've been insistent on that," the man laughed humorlessly," But could you at least discuss it with me? Not to belittle the occupation but there is just so much more you could be doing. You incredibly intelligent!"

"Oh, so you have a problem belittling occupations and not people?" Izuku whispered to himself.

"Hm?" the man raised his brow, not making out the snide remark.

"I want to help people, that hasn't changed," Izuku affirmed, "I don't want to do anything else."

"Yes but you have a nearly year before you enter high school much less college. Why don't you give it some time and…"

"No. Thank you," Izuku more growled than spoke, shocking both the counselor and his classmate who remained unseen.

"Mr. Midoriya," he started while scratching the side of his neck, "You've been a bit strange this morning. From the moment you walked in I'm not unconfident to say that you're behavior has departed from your norm. Is something wrong? Did anything happen?"

'Shit,' Katsuki felt a wave of panic. 'Deku's gonna fuckin' say isn't he?'

"Yeah, I guess something happened," Izuku leaned back into his chair, playing with his hair.

Bakugou started to step forward, thinking of someway to stop this conversation. It was at that moment that Izuku turned his head, making eye contact with the blond.

It was a frame of time that went against every law of the universe. Bakugou felt as if he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, and Izuku could see it. For the first time, Izuku could see Katsuki without his menace or his arrogance. Similarly, Katsuki saw Izuku differently as well. He wasn't flinching at the mere sight of him, but instead glaring at him. Daring him to act.

"Do you think you could tell me?" the counselor asked.

Izuku smiled, or rather he smirked, still looking Katsuki dead in the straights. Katsuki's uncertainty became shame, and that shame quickly turned to rage.

'You little shit,' he began to pour smoke out the palms of his hands. 'Don't you fucking test me!'

"Yeah," Izuku turned away from the counselor, "Last night, something happened after school."

Bakugou struggled not to burst in and burn the scrawny twit to his bones. His glare was intense enough to do it anyway.

"I was going to go home after I found my classmate under the stairs. I was going to go home after the ambulance got there," Izuku paused long enough to see if he could hear the pulsing blood vessels in Katsuki's neck, "Then I ran into someone at the gate. They hadn't let school yet."

"Someone else was hurt?" he asked.

"No, he was fine," Izuku waved off, "I asked him what he was doing here so late, but he was in a real bad mood. He really blew up at me."

Katsuki couldn't suppress the grunt that escaped his mouth. The counselor looked to the source of the noise and was greeted to a ghostly pale blond looking like a deer in headlights.

"Oh, hey Katsuki," Izuku satisfaction couldn't be hidden, "Did you need to talk to the counselor too. We're pretty much wrapped up here."

"Yes, Mr. Katsuki," the older man greeted warmly, "I don't think you've ever come to my office. Why don't you have a seat and we can discuss applying to schools with good hero programs. You know I've heard great things about you, some teachers have even said you're U.A. ready."

Bakugou didn't answer as his eyes were transfixed on the daring challenge in Izuku's features.

'You just played with me,' he realized, seething as Izuku turned away from him and started to gather his things.

"Oh, are you leaving, Midoriya?" he noticed.

"Going to class," and without another word, he left.

As the distance closed between the two of them, Katsuki expected a passing remark. For Izuku to gloat over his little victory against him. Katsuki just glared down at him ready to bite back, but as Izuku continued forward, he didn't look Katsuki in the eye. He didn't look at Katsuki at all. Dismissively, Izuku walked past him, as if he weren't even there.

Katsuki was stunned. He was so shocked that he didn't notice the door closing behind him, or the counselor calling out his name.

"Excuse me," the man tried to catch the middle schooler's eye. "Would you please sit down."

Still ignoring the man, Katsuki turned on his heel and followed Izuku out into the hallway. Izuku turned the corner and Katsuki broke into a run following him.

As he step into the open he prepared to grab Izuku by his neck, but he saw nothing. In the half frame of time that he'd lost sight of the green haired boy, Izuku had disappeared.

Before he could growl in frustration he felt the air leave his lungs as a thin frame with a head of green hair heaved all of its weight into his stomach just below his ribs. Izuku had waited around the corner and ducked down, below Katsuki's line of sight, and laid in wait. Once he determined that Bakugou was close enough, he launched himself, digging his shoulder into the larger boy's solar plexus.

As quickly as he'd come, Izuku jumped out of range. It was a good thing he had, as Katsuki clawed right where he'd been standing on instinct, a small but intensely bright explosion bursting from his palms. Izuku couldn't dream of mustering the strength to knock his stronger classmate down, but he felt satisfied as he watched Katsuki try to exude menance while gasping for oxygen.

"What's the matter?" Bakugou rasped, slightly hunched forward, "You didn't lose enough blood last night? Cause you're about to fucking die!"

"Good, I want to see you try, faker!" Izuku spat back, "I want to see you stop pretending to be a hero. Show everyone else who you really are."

"Watch your mouth, Deku!" Bakugou glared down at Izuku, returning to his full height.

"Don't call me that!" Izuku's body shook while he took a stance against his former friend.

HIs head low and his arms locked in front of him, Izuku's body language sent a clear message: There is no alternative. Years of fear and anger and rejection had cracked his shell, and in a rare display of defiance and spite, Izuku's repressed anger was peaking through. Katsuki had rarely if ever seen the boy be anything other than a quivering mess, but he wasn't anymore keen to this Izuku than he was the old one..

"Deku, Deku, Deku!" he challenged, "You're still worthless, and don't think that dirty tricks change that. I hope you enjoyed the first and last hit you'll ever get on me, because it's over for you."

Quickly, the air around Katsuki's hand began to shimmer with an intense heat. Izuku didn't miss the telltale tension rising in his opponent, preparing to launch himself forward, or worse, throw out another explosion. One that wouldn't miss.

Izuku should have backed down, but he couldn't. The heat that radiated off Katsuki was nothing compared to the overpowering fire in his own head. It was clouding his judgement, telling him to dash forward and swing with abandon.

Katsuki placed one leg behind him, ready to spring forward as he had the night before, and Izuku responded in kind.

Neither looked at the other with anything more than ferocity and determination. The atmosphere dropped, and the air was still. It was like the hallway had created a vacuum, and the only two things that existed where two fighters, one willing to kill, and another willing to die..

Then the bell rang, and the hallway flooded with students eager to leave their classrooms, if only go towards another equally boring class. But neither of the two boys moved. Frozen in time, they waited poised to strike like two sculptures, and the other students noticed.

Typically, this would be the moment for someone to yell fight, and a ring of students would close the two in but the circumstances were different. They were just too damned bizarre. The well known weakest person around, even by quirkless standards, squaring off against the unquestionably strongest boy in the school. Even stranger was the intensity of the strongest boy's glare at the swcrany Deku, as if he regarded him as a real threat.

The hallway froze, transfixed as David and Goliath stared each other down. It wasn't meant to happen it seemed, as the glimmer around the taller boy's hand faded, and the anger in his eyes shifted to disgust.

Bakugou huffed, lowering his arms and turning away from his obvious inferior.

"You almost fooled me into thinking you were worth something," he laughed, "It won't happen again."

Katsuki left, and the small gathering of students realized that they too should be going. Izuku began to simmer down now that the object of his aggression had disappeared, though he wasn't totally free of the anger. It sat on his shoulders while he dragged his feet to sixth hours, all the while he did his best to ignore the passing glances he was catching. When he looked around people would look away, always whispering amongst themselves.

That was the start of the day's third, and most interesting, rumor. The good boy going bad, and the bomber backed down from a fight.

* * *

Izuku liked the beaten gravel path that outlined the park. It was quiet, and it was mostly forgotten by the denizens of the neighborhoods that it snaked through the outskirts of. He often took this path home, because while it was a bit longer of a walk it was peaceful. He could ponder the mysteries of life or even more intimidating, fifth period geometry while he listened to the birds chirp or watched the clouds roll by.

It was perfect on a day like this, when he'd needed all the space and clarity the universe could afford. It needed to be able to hold both his crippling anxiety and endless second guesses.

"What did I do?" he sighed to himself.

It was an honest enough question. After all, when he walked into the counselor's office, he'd meant to discuss schools and course work that he would need in order to become an attorney that could help put villains away. He'd accepted that he couldn't be a hero, but he was resolved to still help people nonetheless. His counselor was just too happy about the first half of that statement. The man had been a patronizing ass the entire time, and then he saw Katsuki just standing there in the corner, spying on him. He wasn't sure if he was angry about the night before or at the man he'd spent the morning with, but Izuku had sensed an opportunity. For once, he would make Katsuki sweat.

He didn't even plan to, but the counselor just asked the most perfect questions, and Izuku could hardly contain his giddy warmth to the confident grin that Katsuki had seen. When it was over he planned to go to his class and collect the homework he'd missed, but then Katsuki had followed him.

A flicker of fear came over him in that moment, but it was drowned by overwhelming fury. Everything he'd done had been on instinct, and his confidence was floating on his untamed emotion, but after it ended, and Izuku had wound down, he was even sure what he felt.

Proud? Not even close. Vindicated? Not by a long shot. Was he ashamed? Maybe a little, but not because he thought he'd been cruel. Bakugou deserved everything, without exception. Izuku just felt so strange. His didn't feel like his actions matched his heart, yet they felt so natural.

He took in a deep breath, and blew it out evenly.

'I don't like being called Deku,' he decided, 'And I don't like being called worthless either.'

Izuku thought back to what Kyle, the owner of the strange gym he'd visited last night, had said to him as she kicked him out.

' _I don't train liars_.'

'I don't like being called a liar," he continued, 'I don't like being called weak. I don't like anything right now.'

Izuku looked up from his thoughts and into the treeline, buzzing with bugs and birds and squirrels jumping through the branches. He'd been walked along these paths his whole life, and sometimes he would wander inside. The park didn't close off on all sides, it fed into a larger untamed forest. Brimming with wildlife and unique flora, it stretched on, only giving way to the ocean.

Of course that was just something that Izuku had read on the park's many markers and posts. He'd never gone deeper than when the grass became glades and the thin trees became thick trunks and the leaves blotted out the sky.

Even now, he was just cruising the edges. Right in front of him was a small park that cut into one of the parks corners. He could see from here the many children and their parents that were sprawled about, playing on the swings and teetering on the saws, and Izuku spotted a bench right on the edge, overlooking it all.

Walking right up to it, he collapsed in the seat. He licked his lips, and rummaged through his backpack for a bottle of water. Instead, he felt his fingers brush against the woven binding to his newest notebook. He'd been so lost in his own mind today day that he totally forgot about it.

Looking at it now, the book seemed dull and flimsy. It contained the hours of careful thought and imagination, innovation, all transcribed onto the paper. It was the sole physical proof of Izuku's former hopes of becoming a hero. How appropriate that it turn out to be a waste of time.

Izuku must have had a dozen or more notepads or journals just like it. All covered from the margins to the edges with his own written plans of detailed diagrams. Of course it was all worthless. By sheer force of will, he'd spent the last 15 years fooling himself into thinking he could do anything in those books without some kind of quirk.

Hell, even rudimentary training would have helped, but he'd never done anything of the sort. No amount of gadgets or equipment would made up for his weak body, but instead of accept that, he had gone on with the illusion.

Determined not to waste anymore, Izuku tossed it toward a garbage can.

The next thing he'd heard was a wet slap ring through the air as a long pink rope snapped right in front of him, snatching his notebook in mid air. Confused as to where it could have come from, Izuku twisted in his seat to look at its source. That source happened to be a young woman sitting on top of the bench's back, practically hovering over his own head.

No one could blame Izuku for being surprised, though they would be hard pressed to say his next actions weren't a bit overly dramatic.

Izuku, in an impressive display of coward strength, could have clear a few yards with the jump he used to escape his proximity to whomever was on the bench. Unfortunately for him, there was a low hanging branch right behind him, and he was hooked onto it by the chin. The rest of him continued on, but with his neck acting like an anchor, Izuku's feet simply flung upwards.

Once he was perfectly vertical, and upside down, Izuku continued to move forward, slamming right into the branch's tree. Comically slapped against the trunk of the tree, Izuku opened his eyes to better analyse the girl he was fleeing from.

She was around his age he thought, assessing both her short stature and school uniform. She now held his notebook in her comically large hands. She could have easily surrounded his waist with her fingers. The next disproportionately large things he noticed where her eyes, which happened to be coal black and quizzically staring at him.

Well, he assumed that it was in a curious sense as the rest of her face, framed by long black hair that had a lush green tint, was totally flat. She was intensely expressionless besides her eyes, although Izuku did his best to analyse.

He soon realized that his endeavor might go easier had he not been upside down and falling off of the tree. Izuku couldn't prevent the painful impact of his nose on a gnarled root poking out of the ground or his stomach slamming down onto an unluckily placed road post.

Izuku rolled over with his eyes closed. Through the pain of his face and stomach, he was thankful that there was no laughter from the girl to add to his shame, but when he opened his eyes he could see why.

Izuku rose and hurriedly tried to snatch his notebook out of the girl's hands as she tried to open it. She held it out of his reach and looked him in the eye with the same impassive expression as before.

"Do you mind?" Izuku asked heatedly, "How about you don't poke through that."

"Why?" she asked without much of a tone, though it almost sounded like she was croaking, "Is this important?"

"No," he responded hastily.

"They why do you want me to give it back?" she pressed.

"So I can throw it away," Izuku reached again, only for the girl to toss it over his head and catch it with her other hand.

"If you're going to throw it away and it's not important," she casually hopped over Izuku as he dived for the book again, "Then why can't I have it?"

"Because," Izuku growled groaned in frustration," Just because."

"Hm," she looked at Izuku, pressing her index finger onto her lower lip, "Nope, I don't think that's a good reason."

Izuku snapped, "I don't need a good reason to take something back if it's mine."

Uncaring of the boy's growingly heated demeanor, she persisted to say, "Well I think that it means something to you then, and that means you care, so which is it. Do you care, or do you not?"

"What do you care?" Izuku fired back, falling back into his seat, though with a good bit of distance between him and the girl, "It's not like that notebook is anything special to you."

"Do that means it's special to someone else?" she inquired, "You, maybe?"

"It doesn't matter anymore," Izuku answered, "It was a waste of time and I just want to forget it."

"That's dumb," she concluded, unfazed by the glare Izuku flicked towards her. "If you forget about it then you don't learn anything from it. Wouldn't you rather keep this and remember it?"

"I've learned that I should walk to the trash can instead of throwing things, and I won't be forgetting this conversation," Izuku's sarcasm didn't seem to bother her either, "Can I have the book back?"

"No, I think there's a lesson in here that you need to learn, unless all you wrote about was proper garbage disposal," she clarified, "Something that you shouldn't just forget about."

"I'm going to try and forget about this as soon as I get my book back," Izuku retorted.

"You're kind of rude," she remarked, as if noticing his behavior for the first time, "Are you always like this? How do your friends deal with it?"

"Honestly, no," Izuku answered, "You just annoy me, and I wouldn't know how they feel about it, I don't have any."

"Is it because you're rude?" she asked.

"How do _your_ friends feel about you butting into things that no one else cares about," Izuku tried to get a rise out of her, half hoping she would leave quicker, and half getting too frustrated not to.

"I think this is something you care about, and I wouldn't know about that first part," she admitted, again touching the corner of her mouth with her index finger, "I only have one friend, and our conversations are usually about other things."

"Why do you care?" Izuku made no attempts to hide his frustrations, now openly glaring at her.

"I guess it's because…" she thought on her words, looking away from him, "You looked really sad when you sat down."

Izuku blinked. A strangled nose escaped his lips as he tried and failed to appropriately respond to what she just said. This stranger that he had very plainly been a dick to wasn't maliouscious. She was nosy sure, but she was trying to be nice to him? Well, that just made him feel like an ass. Properly blushing with shame, Izuku cleared his throat and sighed.

"I'm sorry for… being a jerk," he whispered.

"Huh, I wasn't really bothered by you being a jerk. I just thought you were being rude," she finished while meeting his eye.

"I'm sorry for forgetting my manners then," he stood up, and bowed to her modestly, "I'm Izuku Midoriya."

She nodded back, "Tsuyu Asui is my name, but you can just call me Tsuyu like my other friend."

"Are you sure you want to be friends with someone as 'rude' as me," he snorted.

"Well if we weren't friends, then why would you be telling me about what's bothering you," she stated as if it were the most obviously thing in the world.

"I...haven't done that," Izuku wondered if she wasn't just a crazy person after all.

"Yeah, but that's what you're going to do if you want this book back," she clarified, securing Izuku's notebook under the arm opposite of him as he sat back down.

"Are you always like this?" Izuku huffed.

"Yes," she answered, "Now could you start talking? Once my friend gets here I need to catch a bus."

Izuku contemplated the pros and cons of spilling his personal baggage to whom was mostly still stranger, but his his desire to get his book back and destroy it as well as his need for some form of outlet made his decision for him.

"I guess this starts with a friend of mine, though he isn't much of a friend now," Midoriya began.

"What happened?" Tsuyu interrupted.

"He blew up my face and left me for dead in the school courtyard after class," Izuku said stiffly.

"Oh," Tsuyu said surprised, sounding unsure of how to approached the topic, "I'm sure he felt bad about it after he had time to calm down. Did you ever give him a chance to apologize?"

"It happened last night," Izuku noted Tsuyu's shock, "And he threatened me again this morning. I don't foresee any apologies in my future."

"You look pretty good for someone that got blown up," Tsuyu pointed out.

"I got healed by someone," Izuku held up his hand before Tsuyu could try to positively spin it, "But after she healed him, she hit me."

"What was she doing at your school after hours?" she wondered

"She wasn't," Izuku corrected, "I woke up in some gym."

"How'd did you get to a gym?" she asked even more confused.

"Someone else found me and carried me there," Izuku said.

"Well why were _they_ at your school that late?" Tsuyu felt the story made less and less sense as he continued, "Why didn't they call an ambulance? Why specifically a gym?"

"Are you going to interrupt me the whole time, or are you going to let me finish?" Izuku sharply replied.

Tsuyu glanced to the side, "I'll stop asking questions when this starts making sense."

"Yujiro brought me to the gym because he works there and it was close," Izuku slumped in his seat, "And I don't know all the details, I was trying to leave as quick as possible."

"Was there something weird about the gym?"

"They were just…" Izuku rubbed his temples, "Yujiro was really insistent on me staying and joining them."

"That's weird. All of that was weird," Tsuyu concluded, "Everything you've said so far was weird and I don't understand it."

"Yeah," Izuku nodded, a bit relieved that she agreed, "I sorta thought it was a cult thing until Kylie kicked me out."

Tsuyu hummed, "And she is…?"

"The owner of the gym," Izuku finished, "And a jerk. She kicked me out into the cold and called me a liar for saying I wanted to join."

"So you did want to join?" Tsuyu half smiled, "I think your a bit of a tsundere."

"Wha-," Izuku stood up with a dusted red on his cheeks, "What's that supposed to mean!?"

Tsuyu laid her hands flat beside her and shook her head, "Well you say you don't care about the book but you're here telling me your story so you can get it back, and now you're calling the gym weird but really you wanted to join it."

Izuku waved her off and regained his composure, "I was _a little_ interested. Everyone in the gym looked really strong, and for a second I thought…"

Tsuyu picked up on Izuku's drifting gaze, and guessed what he might be thinking.

"You thought you might be able to get strong too," she concluded.

Izuku flinched, finding that there was a lump in his throat he couldn't swallow. She was right, but she was wrong too. He wanted to be strong, but he thought he could get something even more out of that place. He wanted to be a fighter. He wanted to get the skills he would need to take down a villain the way a pro could, but Izuku nipped the idea in the bud as quickly as he could.

He wouldn't be conquered by anymore illusions of grandeur. He was quirkless, as far as this world was concerned, he was lunch meat.

"It was another pipe dream," Izuku said aloud, "Just like that book. I want to forget them both so I can move on with my life."

Izuku felt that after talking about what ailed him, he should have felt lighter. Like his burdens should have seemed a little less. But his body felt as heavy as before, if not more. That's why it felt like bricks were piling into his open hand, extended to accept the book back from Tsuyu.

She made no move to give it back. She made no move at all. Izuku thought she might have been preparing to give him some feel good speech about not giving up or trying again, but he didn't the patience for it.

"Please, just let me throw it away," he choked, surprising himself with his own fragility, "I just want this day to end."

More silence, and more rocks to drag his hand down. There was a visible strain on his face, but it wasn't from his imaginary trial. Izuku knew that this was the outpouring of all his pain, loosened by his confessions, but released by his need to escape.

Why, goddammit why did he feel like crying now of all times? The hard part was over, he let go of his fantasy, didn't he? He let go of his dream. He confronted Katsuki for god's sake.

'I'm ready to walk forward, aren't I?'

"Nope," Tsuyu broke the silence with her flat tone and impassive face as always. "You can't have the book back."

"What?" he cried, "But that was the deal."

"I changed my mind," she huffed, "If you're just going to let it go to waste then I'm going to put it to use."

Quietly she started to pack up her things while Izuku choked on his unwept tears. She took the book from under her arm and stared at it. Izuku wanted to snatch it out of her hand, but he could hardly breathe. Something was squeezing the life out of him,

"I don't think you want to give up," Tsuyu said, "But my mom said there's a time in everyone's life when they have to choose between what they really want to do and what they think they should do. I think this is that time for you, Izuku. So, good luck, okay?"

She stood up, and with quick nod, she smiled at him. It was a odd thing to see, and Izuku was sure it took a tremendous effort on her part to make it so visible on her features, but she did it. The corners of her lips turned ever so slightly, while her eyes took on a softer light to them, and Izuku couldn't look away.

How could he be angry with her in this moment, while she wore the most beautiful smile he'd ever seen.

She walked away, no doubt to meet up with the friend that she told izuku about, but not before she spare him a last glance.

"If I ever see you again, I hope I can give you this book back," she rushed before Izuku lost sight of her, "And maybe you can listen to some of my problems too."

And just like that, Izuku was alone. He felt so confused and this suffocating vice was worming it's way around his neck. A second later a drop of rain hit his hand. And then another. And after a dozen or so more he looked up and say a dry park emptying of its other residents. Another dozen after that, Izuku realized that it wasn't raining. No sound escaped his lips while he let loose a steady stream of tears.

For minutes he sat like that, staring off into the empty space. Totally still, and totally silent, he felt like he had disappeared. Like all the weight he felt had finally buried him into the dirt and this was the endless nothingness after death. It was an oddly numbing feeling, to not be able to feel yourself cry, but to still feel your shaking heartbeat in your chest.

He laughed. The weight disappeared and he laughed, some more. He had to clutch at his contorting stomach while he tried to stop his chuckles from ripping through the air. He covered his mouth but it did nothing to stop the viciously jaunting bellows that were shaking him now. Absolutely nothing was funny about today, but Izuku didn't care.

Who was that random girl to come and tell him what his life was? Better yet, how dare she be one hundred percent, totally, undoubtedly right. She had known him for a minute, and she had seen crystal clear what he had not.

He wasn't ready to give up, even if it truly was a pipe dream. He wasn't ready to let go off a fifteen year long dream that had since motivated his every step.

Izuku stood up, marvelling at how light he felt after bawling his eyes out. Perhaps he was just waterlogged? It didn't matter, he had somewhere to be. A certain gym owner needed talking to.

Izuku grabbed his bag and began to jog towards his destination.

* * *

It's amazing how 10 minutes of jogging, or rather three minutes of jogging and seven of pained limping past confused city goers, could put into perspective how out of shape one could be.

Izuku was actually appreciating that fact as he leaned his sweaty body against the gym's door. It was apparently called Kylie's if the bold print on the sign was to be believed. Something Izuku had not learned the previous night.

"I...have…" Izuku sputtered between long gasps of life giving oxygen, "..not taken care….of my body."

He pushed the door open, seeing once again the many residents of the gym in the swing of things. Sparring matches here there and everywhere else, weights lining the walls, and two familiar faces arguing not a meter away from the door.

"YOU THREW ME AT A WALL!" Kaito screamed at his partner.

"YOU SURPRISED ME!" Niko defended herself heatedly..

Holding his hands in front of him Kaito looked all to confused, "SO YOUR RESPONSE WAS TO THROW ME AT A WALL?"

"FUCK OFF, YOU DROPPED FROM THE RAFTERS," she retorted.

"Hi," Izuku waved from beside the two, trying to draw their attention.

"WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU DOING UP THERE?!" Niko screamed.

"DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT!"

"Um," Izuku scratched his head, "Hello? Do you know I'm here?"

"Change the subject?" she jabbed Kaito with her index finger, "That is the subject you asshole!"

"Oh really, I thought the subject was you throwing me at a brick wall!"

"Well, since neither of you are listening, I'm just gonna go ahead and say that you both seem pretty screwed up," Midoriya calmly said, "And the fact that you can casually throw someone at a wall is cool."

"Who keeps interrupting-" Kaito stopped, "You look familiar."

"Hey, it's you," Niko greeted, patting him on the shoulder, "Izuku, right? Why are you drenched when it's not raining outside?"

"I ran here, this is sweat," Niko quickly pulled her arm back.

Kaito scoffed, "Like you don't sweat buckets during a match?"

"Next time you could hit the glass and not the wall, Kaito," she threatened, before sweetly leaning down to Izuku's level as she was rather tall, "What are you doing back here, little man?"

Izuku gulped, looking her in the eye, "I came here to join the gym," he sounded resolute, confident, and still slightly winded from his run.

Niko and Kaito's eyes bulged, and they shared a look of deep pity for the younger boy. Kaito left and Niko kneeled down, fiddling with her hair which was drawn into a neat ponytail.

"Are you sure about this?" she firmly gripped his shoulders, "Even I had experience fighting before I came to this place, so I have to ask. How badly do you want this?"

"I don't wanted it," Izuku admitted, "But I have something I want to do, and I need this. I'm doing this."

Izuku was hard pressed not to grin when Niko looked back down on him with a smidge of pride behind her anxious eyes.

"Alright," Niko presented to Izuku one of many hairbands, "Tie your hair back, I'm gonna make sure you look half presentable before Kylie gets back. Did you bring a spare change of clothes?"

"I have a T-shirt under my school uniform," Izuku said while he pulled his unruly mess of green hair into a ponytail.

"Okay strip down to that and-"

Kaito rusheed forward, "She's outside, I got Yujiro to come in first! Okay good, you took care of the hair."

Kaito passed a black strip of cloth and they grabbed a wrist each, forming a small wrap on Izuku's forearms.

"Okay, all new members get about the same first day, but the gym closes in a couple hours, so she's gonna rush you," Kaito tugged on the straps to test their strength.

"Is that bad?" Izuku whimpered.

Izuku was answered with winces and sympathy. Yujiro walked through the door and saw what they were doing. Excitedly he hopped over and smiled at Izuku.

"I so happy you came back, and so sorry about what she's going to do when she sees you," he ignored Izuku's look, "Remember, show no fear when she sees you. She's gonna be ultra pissed, but the key is to not let her psyche you out. When she says leave, buckle down."

Izuku nodded, and then a cold feeling washed over the room. The sparring matches stopped, and everyone looked towards the side. Standing in the entrance was Kylie with a death glare planted firmly at Izuku's heart.

'No fear,' Izuku thought. 'Buckle up. No! Shit, buckle down. Buckle down. Buckle down, she is getting closer.'

Kylie was quick to close the distance between the two of them, looking down on Izuku. She examined Izuku, now with his hair in a rough ponytail, and a thin T-shirt to cover his chest. Her predatory smirk made him all too aware of how thin and wiry his frame was.

"Well raggedy Andy, you look half prepared," she mocked appraised him with a bored look, "And the hair's a minor improvement, but I'm still going to ask that you piss off."

"No."

With that single word, the room dropped 10 degrees. Celsius. Kylie's expression hadn't changed, but her walk did. If before it was predatory, this was outright hostile. She closed the distance between the two of them, but whether it was his false confidence or paralyzing fear, Izuku remained still.

"No?" She repeated, scowling over him, "No, as in you aren't leaving, no?"

Izuku nodded, "I came here to train."

"You came here to piss me off," she snapped back, "And you did, so before I beat the shit out of you,walk out that door."

"Make me."

The room collectively shivered. Izuku saw people huddling away in the corner of his eye, grouping together in an attempt to weather a coming storm. Said storm was about to wreak havoc on him.

"Well look who's balls just dropped," the pulsing vein in her neck betrayed her level voice, "Let's make a bet. You and me get in that ring. I'll knock you around for a few minutes, and if you beg, and I mean really beg, I'll pay for your taxi home, or to the hospital."

"Fine," Izuku glared back, "We'll just consider it my first lesson."

Kylie stepped around the ropes while the two previous occupants scurried out of it. She tossed a loose pair piece of headgear at the boy and tapped her foot.

"Lace up, Luigi," she wore a wolfish smirk while she rubbed her wrists, "This is the last time you come and disrespect _my_ gym."

* * *

 **I've discovered that schedules are especially stupid when you have to balance college work and an admittedly baren social life, plus making time for my girlfriend. I'm not gonna lie, every single thing I've just said comes before writing this story, but I'm not going to keep you guys hanging all the time.**

 **Hope you enjoy, thanks if you left a comment, and I appreciate constructive criticism. No one's been an outright dick in the comments and I appreciate that.**


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